The Mechanic [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

AllMusic Review
by Thom Jurek

Mark Isham's score for Simon West's film, The Mechanic (starring Jason Statham and Ben Foster) was recorded in Prague with the Czech National Orchestra as well as electric guitars, an array of keyboards, percussionists, and drum machines. Here, the organic and the synthetic come together in a seamless whole to reflect everything from nearly unbearable brooding tension, explosive drama, haunting scoundscapes, and eclectic side paths into neo-classical, jazz, near-ambient, and rock music. Isham has become a composer of real vision; he understands that action films are served far better by subtlety and understatement, suggestion, and nuance, rather than simply bombast. This collector's edition brings together not only the score as it appeared in the film, but also contains all of the cues that were left out, thereby creating a long, enduring, focused work that stands on its own wonderfully as a listening experience.